Glad we like cereal!

If you've been following my adventures with couponing, today was a fun one... if you like cereal. This week, Target has General Mills cereals on sale $2.50/box. That's a pretty good price, right? Well, not good enough for me. I printed off three Target store coupons from Target.com. Each gave me $1 off the purchase of three General Mills cereals. But I wanted to buy five boxes (You'll understand in a moment) So, I picked up four boxes of Total Raisin Bran and one box of  Whole Grain Peanut Butter Cheerios. The normal price for five boxes of these cereals at Target would be $14.95. On sale, they were  $12.50. Subtract one of the $1 off 3 coupons, bringing the total to $11.50. But that still was not good enough for me.  I added four coupons for $1 off one box of Total and $1 off one box of Cheerios, bringing the total to $6.50. Nope, still not done. See, the reason I wanted five boxes is because this week, Target is offering a $5 gift card with the purchase of five boxes of General Mills cereals. So, I paid a grand total, after subtracting the value of the gift card (to be used on my next transaction) of $1.50, or $0.30 per box. The totally disappointing thing was that I had coupons worth $1.25 off one box of a variety they didn't have on the shelf. Had I been able to use four of those (four is the maximum of "like coupons" allowed in one transaction at Target) , the per-box price would have been brought down to TEN CENTS!!!

So... we now have fifteen boxes of various types of General Mills cereals. Now, if only I could find affordable milk!

My middle daughter and her best friend just signed a lease for an apartment in Springfield. They won't be moving for a while, thank goodness... I'm not sure I am ready for her to live so far away. I told them to get a sofa with a hideaway bed because I plan on visiting a lot. In the meantime, I am going to take every opportunity I can to spend extra time with them. They are a couple of very cool young women.

This long weekend has been wonderful. Mattie was starting to really look tired, but after having multiple chances to sleep, or just totally relax, she is looking much better. Plus, I have been able to spend a lot of time with her. She, too, is well on her way to "Awesome Young Woman" status. It won't be long before I am bemoaning her moving out, as well. An empty nest has never appealed to me. I love having my home full of laughter and minor messes. I can't imagine how quiet it will be around here with just Mark and myself.

On the "GREAT NEWS" front, I saw my oncologist, Dr. Skelley, last week. He did his thorough check up, and said I was good to go for six months. Today, I saw Dr. Dandridge, my oncological surgeon. I have been seeing him every four months for quite some time. This time, he said I don't have to go back for six months! You have no idea how awesome this is. I was told, in the beginning, that I would be seeing my oncological team once a year by the end of five years post-treatment. But, of course, I have to be special. It has taken me eight years to get to every 6 months. Actually, my last chemo treatment was 8 years ago on Valentine's Day.

Enough randomness for one day. I've got to go switch the laundry and such... Have a great week!

They're acting like kids!

I'm sitting on the sofa, watching my 13- and 19-year-old daughters wrestling on the floor. Some things never change. They were playing Wii, now they are torturing each other. I was afraid that the days of watching my children playing on the floor were long-gone. This has done my heart good.

So, what's up with the weather? This is the second year in a row with virtually no winter here in the middle of the country. I don't mean to complain, but I really love being snowed in with the family. Everyone focuses just a bit more on each other, and things slow down. As I am writing this, though, I am aware that a winter storm is hitting some of my friends. I hope you are all safe and worm.

I was in the "Big City" yesterday, shopping for deals. I was a bit disappointed at the lack of deals I found, but I did have one pretty sweet shopping experience. I got two bottles of NatureMade vitamins and two bags of Valentine's Day M&Ms for $2.10. When I got to the car, I realized I had forgotten to use a coupon that would have made the entire purchase totally free. Still, the pre-coupon total was more than $30. Not bad, if I do say so myself. I have also been using the price list I get from Weekly Saver. At Walmart, with the list, I am able to save a ton of money by price-matching. If you are in the Monett or Springfield area, look them up on Facebook: Weekly Saver or email a request a free trial list to weeklysaver@yahoo.com
A lot of work goes into the list, and Rhema only charges $3 per week for the lists. I saved that much last week on Avocados, alone. Tell her Kenna sent you!

Finally, I found PUL fabric in Springfield last week. I got so excited when I saw it, I bought two yards. Then I went back for another half yard. Now.... I have 2 1/2 yards of specialty fabric and don't know what I am going to do with it. I made my grumdaughter a crayon roll-up with a place for paper. I am working on several ideas, but haven't gotten to the "cut it out" stage yet. I hope to have something major done by the end of the weekend.

Well, not much randomness here. My 13-year-old has my 19-year-old on her back, and someone is going to get hurt. I guess it is time for Mom to step in. Have a great one!